Walk Beside Me
by HavocRoyale
Summary: Their coven & pack was a clumsily made one, but not one of them would trade it for another.
1. New Family New Beginnings

The day Michael and Alex's mom introduced them to her boyfriend; a man without a shred of monster in his blood or magic in his veins was by far craziest day in their lives so far.

When they first met the man, David, his presence and scent sent them both on high alert. Michael going so far as to change his posture and bare his teeth in an attempt to intimidate David. Run ins with humans with such clean blood were rarely pleasant to say the least.

Their mother called Michael out in his behavior but he didn't acknowledge her. David just smiled and chuckled as he reached his hand out to shake Michael's.

"Oh, it's fine, Angie. Michael, right? I'm David," Michael shook his hand but it was stiff and Michael's grip tightened instead of letting go at the end.

David hardly seemed affected by Michael's claws digging into his own hands. He just kept smiling through and through.

"Did you know that my first wife was a witch, Michael?"

That threw Michael off, he let go of David's hand and stepped back, and the man continued, "She was killed as the last full blooded witch in her coven."

Michael never bared his teeth at David again, but he always remained on edge anytime they were in the same room until David insisted on helping Michael and Alex with the dishes.

While Michael washed and dried dishes, David put them away with assistance from Alex. After a few minutes of anxious silence David spoke up.

"I have a son. Jonas," he paused only to turn to Alex and ask which drawer the utensils went in, "He's a year older than you, Alex."

More silence passed.

"The day his mother died he was at a friend's house. I asked the parents if he could stay the night and when I got home I packed all of the charms, any books, pictures, anything that linked his mother to magic and placed it all in a storage unit."

Alex looked up at him, his eyes were foggy but he was still smiling, "Why'd you hide it?"

"I didn't want him learning he had magic in his blood. I was worried of losing him to the same fate I lost his mother. He's going to find out one day but I don't want him practicing. I want you two to keep him safe."

Michael laughed, it was deep and nearly a growl, "You want us to protect your witch son? We're not guard dogs, we're fucking people, David."

"I know, but I don't have anyone else I could ask. I just need even one of you to just make sure he doesn't practice, no real defending or guarding or anything."

Michael was frowning down at the dishes, adamant against David's request. Alex looked between her brother and David, "I'll make sure Jonas stays away from magic."

The day Michael and Alex finally met David's son, Jonas, was the second craziest day.

Unlike his father, Jonas reeked with magic despite having apparently been raised oblivious to his mother's heritage and never even attempting to learn arcane arts. Being around Jonas was like Alex's mom during Spring, he was practically a beacon to anyone with an ounce of magic or monster in them.

Alex decided the pact she made with David was more for herself than for him or Jonas. Later having to explain why she wouldn't stop sneezing around him was tough but she made a pretty sweet "I'm allergic to cool guys" joke that Michael was never going to let her live down.

Michael led Jonas, and to a lesser extent, Alex down to the den. The basement filled with trophies, relics, pelts, charms, and pictures from Michael and Alex's pack. Alex chuckled when she saw Jonas' face upon entering the room.

He rushed to a nearby shelf and picked up a foggy blue charm, the charm wasn't an inch off the shelf before Jonas dropped it, "Fuck! What is that?"

Michael grinned, "Dry ice, it's a dead charm that our grandparents helped a local coven with."

"Dead charm?"

"Any magic left in it is going to preservation rather than the charm's actual purpose. It could always be recharged but that would defeat it's purpose in here," Alex answered Jonas and he broke into an almost childish smile.

Hurrying across the room again and hunched over a display case and pointed to the carved relic, "What about this one?"

"Mammoth tusk," the werewolves answer simultaneously, "The end of one."

"Holy crap, where'd it come from?"

In all of their time showing off, neither sibling had ever found someone so full of questions about relics. Then again that's probably what comes from being mostly sheltered from magic would do that.

"It's a trophy from our family's first hunt as a pack. All werewolf packs have one, the alpha's family usually keeps it," Michael stated matter-of-factually.

Jonas turned around to them, confused, "You're not that old are you?"

"Psh, nah. The trophy from our first hunt is in the display case next to it."

"Is that a bear skull? I figured you wouldn't hunt bears, you know like normal wolves."

"Oh they'll attack a werewolf if it's getting close to the den," Michael sat in a chair made of antlers, "Yeah we had to check for cubs and report the incident to the rangers since we potentially killed a mother bear. There were no cubs but dad still had a hefty fine to pay."

"So, this room is a totally normal thing for all werewolves to have?"

"Actually I think any pack monster may have rooms for this stuff," Alex mused, "But typically only the alphas have these. The rest of the packs definitely have their own trophies and relics, but it's usually a given that the alpha is the one expected to protect these kinds of things."

"Oh. Cool. Who's the alpha?"

"It was our dad but when he passed the pack kind of disbanded. Me and Michael aren't old enough to be true alphas and no one else wanted to try and live up to our family's legacy."

"Legacy?"

"Oh, yeah. Our family has got this totally loaded legacy, sort of. We don't have any big bad wolf stories about us but our pack has been around since the last ice age."

Jonas whistled, "You guys don't have a pack anymore then?"

"Well, in theory when one of us, probably me since I'm the oldest, becomes old enough to lead a pack. Our old pack will come back," Michael concluded.

Alex nodded, "It's considered safer to be a lone wolf than to stay in a leaderless pack, harder for hunters to target us if we're all spread out and focused on ourselves."

Jonas dropped his phone, "Wait, what?"

Michael and Alex looked at each other and then back at Jonas, "It's harder to win in a fight against a werewolf if they're prepared and if you're a lone wolf that's all you have to do aside from hunt."

"No no no. Hunters? There's people who actively _hunt_ you guys?"

"Yeah, there's people who "hunt" any monster or magic user. Ever heard of the Salem Witch Trials, Jonas? Or nearly any human story about monsters? Ever noticed that the monster always dies?"

"Those are true? I thought they were just stories! Like that TV show where in the end it turns out everyone was dead!"

"We knew you were oblivious but did you really not know about hunters?" Alex put a hand on Jonas' shoulder and he shook his head, "No! Not at all."

Michael stood up, "Well, now you know. Most hunters are technically witches, artificially. They use special gloves to be able to use charms and the likes and some weird glasses to track presence."

"Some of them will actually inject this mana substitute into their bodies in order to do magic, track presence, and use charms without any special gadgets. By the way mana is basically the blood in a magic user's system that allows them to access the second nerve system in their bodies."

"A _second_ nerve system? Oh my god why are you people so complicated."

"Well it's not really a second nerve system, it's more like special nerves connected to your normal system. It's kinda confusing but the currents that run through them allow a magic user to tap into any magic or power in them or the area around them," Michael said in addendum to Alex's mana explanation.

"Huh?" Jonas had an almost pained expression.

"Michael, I think you made it worse."

"Hey! Don't pin it on me you started it, I just tried to explain it for him!"

"Guys, it's fine. I'm a human after all, I don't think I'm supposed to understand," He gave an apologetic smile before heading towards the stairs, "I'm going outside for a smoke, either of you wanna come with me?"

Alex made a disgusted face, sticking her tongue out and flashing her sharp teeth, "You smoke?"

Jonas faltered for a second, "Yeah...uh...yeah, sorry?"

Michael walked up to him, "I'll come out with you, don't worry about Alex. She's allergic to cool guys, remember?"

"Hey!"

The boys laughed and began running up the stairs. Alex chased them outside until they all stopped to catch their breath. Jonas fell back into the soft grass before lighting a cigarette, Alex and Michael sat beside him.

"Can I ask another question, guys?"

Michael chuckled, "Shoot, squishy."

Jonas shot up, "Okay, first off please don't call me that."

"Okay, mushy," Alex said quietly from behind him, Michael laughed harder and Jonas looked betrayed.

"Just ask the question, Jonas. You're not going to get an answer if you just want us to sit here and call you names."

Jonas huffed, "What happened to your dad? Like you guys are supposed to be his...heirs? But you're both too young to be pack leaders so there's no way it was expected or something."

Alex laid back like Jonas had originally, "Dad died in our last hunt as a real pack. A stag got him pretty bad in the chest with its antlers."

"Got him pretty hard in the head with a kick, too. There was nothing that we could really do to stop him from dying," Michael continued.

"When he died the pack gave him a proper burial for the alpha and then we all had a meeting to decide what would happen to the pack."

"Oh," Jonas breathed out smoke, "I'm sorry. My mom died when I was really young. My dad said she just happened to be at the house at the wrong time, some burglar saw her and panicked."

Michael and Alex looked at each other at the mention of Jonas' mom, "We're sorry that that happened, Jonas."

"Try looking for a silver lining. Now we're all part of one broken little family."

"Yeah, I guess you're right, Alex. You guys are pretty great, I don't think I'll mind a new family."


	2. Family Is A Tough Title

It happened so fast. Alex barely had the time to fully process the fact that it happened again. She watched it all but she refused to believe it was real. She laid down in her place and just stared out at the cliff's edge. Not bothering to turn back into a human, she stayed there until she fell asleep.

When she woke up she was in the back of Michael's truck with her brother next to her. He was a human again but she wasn't, god only knows how they were cramped in the backseat together. Jonas was driving, his posture was stiff and his knuckles were white he was gripping the steering wheel so hard. Michael looked down at her when she sat up, his eyes were red and puffy from crying.

Alex suddenly felt nauseous, "Jonas. Pull over. Please."

He jumped a little, obviously spooked when she was suddenly talking, but he pulled over into a nearby gas station. All three of them got out and they got more than a few weird looks when Alex lumbered out still entirely a wolf.

"I'm going inside to get a slushie or something to drink. Either of you want something?" Jonas was tracing his knuckles when Michael looked over at him, "Just some water for both of us."

"Yeah, right. Okay," Jonas jogged off into the store.

Alex finally stopped vomiting and she turned to look at Michael, "We have the worst luck hunting."

He made a sad smile, "Yeah, no kidding. You're clothes are in the truck if you want to change back."

She nodded and he opened the car door for her, leaning against the truck after closing it. Jonas came jogging back with a small plastic bag, he handed Michael the two waters.

"Is she okay?"

Michael downed his water before answering, "Not really. This is the second time she's gone through this, it'll be a while before she's " _okay"_ Jonas."

"Right, sorry."

Michael pulled Jonas' hat down over his eyes, "It's alright, Jonas. Thanks for coming get us."

"No problem. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get a cab out here? Like for starters there's only like one cab in the entire town and then I had to ask him to drive me like ten miles out of town."

That got a chuckle out of Michael, "Don't worry about it, you won't need to be doing it again hopefully."

"Yeah. Hopefully."

The car window was rolled down and Alex popped her head out, "Hey, guys if we could maybe move this along, that'd be wonderful. I'm starving."

"Jonas, keys? Mind if I take over?" Michael held his hand out.

"Yeah, here," he handed the keys to Michael and they got into the truck.

The drive was mostly quiet until Alex asked about David. She could practically feel Jonas' face fall before he turned around to face her.

"When you guys never came back when you usually do I didn't tell him at first. But then another hour rolled around and I had to, he left work early and he must've broken so many traffics laws because I swear to god he got to the house in record time. He was really worried about you."

A pause.

"He asked me not to call the cops, yet. Give it another hour or two first, eventually he caved and he was going to call but Michael called me before he finished dialing the number. He gave me money for a cab and stayed at the house. I don't think he could've handled it if he came with me."

Alex grabbed Jonas' hand, "He'll be alright. We'll all be alright. We have each other, right Mike?"

Michael gave a curt nod, "Yeah, you're not getting out of this pack anytime soon, jello. And neither is your father, you're both family now."

The rest of of the car ride consisted of Alex recounting what happened on the cliff with her mom.

They walked into their house and were immediately greeted by David, "Oh my god, you kids are alright! Thank god, you're okay!"

His hair was disheveled from running his hands through it and his eyes were red and puffy like Michael's. He had one of Alex and Michael's mother's sweaters thrown on over his business suit. Alex felt her throat block up, he never even changed out of his work clothes and it was almost three in the morning. Despite being in complete disarray, David had such a hopeful smile on his face.

Alex slumped forward and hugged him, "I'm sorry."

Gently she could feel David wrap his arms around her and hug her, "Oh, it's quite alright, Alex. Michael, Jonas, where's Angie?"

Michael looked at Jonas out of the corner of his eye, Jonas stiffened back up and was back to tracing his knuckles.

Michael looked back at David, "I need to tell you something. Preferably without Alex and Jonas around."

Alex letting go of David and looking up at him could see the fear and anxiety worm back into his mind. She turned around, "Jonas, c'mon. Let's go to the den."

Jonas followed close behind Alex out of the room. David didn't look like he moved a muscle since Michael spoke up.

"Michael? Where's Angela? Where's your mother? My wife?"

Letting out a shaky breath Michael answered, "My mom died when we were hunting, David."

"What?"

"When we hunt, sometimes one of us will go off apart from the rest to scout ahead," another shaky breath, "And when I left I think it was a large cougar or maybe a desperate bear, but whatever it was it cornered Alex and my mom on a cliff. My mom, she tackled it when it lunged, but both of them fell off the cliff. Alex barely managed to avoid falling with them."

"I found Alex, asleep or passed out a little ways from the cliff. David, I'm sorry."

"You didn't do anything, Michael. We can get a small search team to retrieve the body. Is there any special funeral or burial you'd like your mom to have?" David looked up at Michael.

"No. No, we don't have a pack anymore. A normal funeral will do just as well."

"I'll make the arrangements then," David walked over to his bag and retrieved his laptop, "Michael?"

"Yeah?"

"Make sure you, Alex, and Jonas get some rest. I'll call Alex and Jonas' school and tell them they can't attend tomorrow."

"Thank you, sir."

"We're a family now, Michael. It's what we do for each other."

A week after the funeral there was a hard knock at the door. Alex rushed out to answer but found David already talking to the person. The man was obviously a skin walker, his clothes were caked in mud and his eyes were fogged up. The fur-lined cloak draped over his shoulders was the only pristine thing about him.

"Good day, ," The man grinned, his lips peeling back and jagged teeth jutting out and every which angle, "My name is Henry Griffin."

"Hello, is there something I can help you with?"

"Yes, if I'm not mistaken your wife, Malik Torres' widow, she died recently."

David tensed up briefly, "I...yes. Angela died last week, what does her death have to do with this meeting?"

"Her children are still alive and they still take up residence here as well, right?"

Alex jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder, she turned to see Michael with a finger up to his lips. They both looked back at David and Henry.

"Get to the point or I'm shutting this door in your face, ."

Henry waved a hand dismissively, "Right, of course. , I'm here to tell you that you should turn in those kids to us in the Creed of Clarity."

"Excuse me?"

"Surely you understand that dangerous monsters such as they do not belong in your household. They're a danger to you and your son, ," Henry talked rather calmly in the face of David.

"I do not have _a_ son. I have _two sons and a daughter._ Alex and Michael are _family_ and surely _you_ understand that if you don't leave us alone, I'll call the cops," David went to slam the door but Henry caught it.

The skin walker reached through the crack and handed a small business card to David, "Give us a call when you see, ."

David opened the door back and Henry looked rather pleased with himself. David held up the business card between them and ripped it in half. The skin walker certainly didn't expect that if his face was any sign.

"Don't come back to my house," David slammed the door completely this time and stormed off past Alex and Michael.

Another week later Michael was woken by a sound outside. Using his phone as a light he started making his way to the front yard, only stopping when he realized Alex was already opening the front door herself.

"Did you hear it too?" Alex nodded in reply.

They both stepped outside, a cool wind sweeping over them as they searched around the yard.

"Michael! C'mere, I think I found the culprit," Alex whisper yelled and Michael jogged across the yard.

His sister pointing out two ends of a slashed power line, "Guess we should be glad the grass isn't dry, huh? Should we call someone?"

"What time is it?"

"Like five-ish. David will be up in like 30 minutes."

Michael nodded, "Go back to sleep, I'll stay up and tell David when he gets up."

"Alright," Halfway back to the door Alex stopped, "What do you think happened?"

"A witch maybe," Contemplating it for a few more seconds, Michael changed his answer, "That skin walker, probably. Henry Griffin or whatever."

"He said he was part of some "Creed of Clarity" right? I can try googling them later."

"Okay, did you tell Jonas about that guy?"

"No, did you?"

"No, we can tell him later and then we can all try and dig up some information on them," Michael picked up a stick and stuck it into the ground next to the wire before following Alex back inside.

Jonas doesn't know what he was expecting when Michael and Alex walked into his room at six am, woke him up, shut and locked the door, and told him that they needed to talk. But he certainly wasn't expecting to hear about a skin walker cult after his siblings.

"What!?"

"Skin walkers are witches, we don't know how old they are or any real specifics about their magic. We know there's stories of similar witches all over the globe but the most common stories came from Native American tribes," Michael explained but was soon cut off by Jonas.

"Wait no, I've heard about them but what is this crap about a cult of them? Or how about the part where they're all but outright threatening my dad because they want you guys?"

It was Alex's turn to explain, "We don't know Jonas. That's why we're telling you, we know the cult is called the "Creed of Clarity" and we can only assume it's a skin walker cult since skin walkers aren't really fond of anyone but themselves."

"But that still doesn't explain why they want you guys?" Jonas felt like this entire conversation was pointless, try as he might, he just couldn't comprehend monsters and witches sometimes.

"Alex just said we don't know, spongy, c'mon keep up. We're going to be looking for any articles or webpages or stories of people running into this cult so we can maybe see why they want us and we figured you'd want to help."

Jonas nodded, "Okay, fair enough. But wait wasn't the power line cut last night? It's not fixed already is it?"

"What?" Alex looked bewildered, "Dude, witches. The line is totally fixed or at least almost done being fixed."

"I've lived here for 3 years, almost 4 and I haven't once heard about witches having that ability, Alex."

"Power lines don't ever just casually snap, marshmallow."

"Oh, ha ha, you're fucking hilarious with all those synonyms for soft and crushable," he got up and pulled on a pair of sweat pants, "But really, this hasn't come up once that witches could do that kind of stuff."

"Witches can do almost anything, once they find the area they're best at there's almost nothing in that area they can't do. Say you get two witches, one who's great with electricity and another with man-made things like plastic or rubber. You can fix a power line in like half the time of a couple of humans and their tools."

"Okay, so aside from being completely OP is there anything else about witches you're hiding from me?" Jonas put his hands on his hips and smiled, "I mean at this point you could tell me I'm a witch and I'd totally believe you. I know I'm not but I would totally believe you guys without question if you aid I was."

"Like 'Yo jellyfish! You're totes a witch, you could be shooting flames from your fingertips right now if you wanted!' and I would totally be like 'No way! Really? Holy fuck I'm gonna light the house on fire!' ya know?"

Another thing Jonas didn't expect was silence. Not a single laugh or any comments adding to the joke, just silence from the two werewolves. It took a lot for them to not talk sometimes and it was never a good thing, he turned around to see both of them awkwardly staring at the floor.

"Guys?"

Michael let out a loud sigh, "I'm not the one that promised shit I can totally say this and not feel bad about betraying David. Jonas you're a fucking witch and you can in fact probably shoot flames from your fingertips...with practice."

"Michael!"

"I just said I didn't promise shit, Alex! Don't get mad at me, this is your problem!"

"Guys? What are you talking about?"

"You're mom was maybe kind of a witch and you're maybe kind of also totally a witch and I may have promised your dad to make sure this conversation never happens but here we are," Alex pulled her phone out, "I need to tell David, do you think he'll pick up?"

Jonas sat down on the desk behind him, "I'm a witch...my mom was a witch..."

"It's okay. When Alex was little I tried convincing her she was a faun," Michael rustled Jonas' hair, "Granted it was less effective but it's kind of the same level of betrayal."

Jonas was not amused by Michael one bit and left the room. Alex strung along, Alex still trying to get a hold of David. Once he was outside he sat down in the damp grass and lit a cigarette.

Alex sat beside him and put her phone up, "Jonas, I'm sorry we didn't tell you before. I mean I really only promised to keep you from practicing not knowing but-"

"Then why the fuck didn't you tell me, Alex?"

She pulled her knees up against her chest and rested her head, "I don't know. It made my job easier, I guess. There was no chance of you trying if you didn't know it was possible."

"But it wasn't you job. I'm not some responsibility that you can just avoid," His voice wavered.

"I'm sorry that I made you feel like that because of this. If there's something i can do to fix that, you can totally ask for it, Jonas."

"Is there something else you're hiding from me?"

"I...it's really something you should talk to your dad about. It's not my place to tell you anything-"

"Alex, please just tell me."

"Right," Alex grabbed Jonas' hand, "It wasn't an accident that that man killed your mom. He killed her because she was a witch, it was a hate crime."

Jonas put the cigarette butt out in the concrete in front of him and turned his hand over to hold Alex's. She could feel the dull tips of his nails digging in to her hand. She lowered her knees and scooted closer to him, leaning against him and resting her head on his shoulder.

"You can cry if you want to. I won't think you're weak or whatever," she heard him sniffle once.

He rested his head on hers and soon Michael's large body lumbered out as a wolf. He laid down and rested his own head in Jonas' lap and let out a whine. Jonas began running his free hand through Michael's thick fur, silent tears streaking down his face. He smiled weakly, they must be quite the sight, all bundled up an hour before the sun even begins to peek above the horizon, he's crying and there's a massive wolf half on top of him. They stayed like that, silently comforting each other for a while before Jonas spoke up softly.

"Thanks," another few minutes of silence, "I don't think I could've asked for a better family."


	3. Hospitalized

Eventually the three made their way inside and eventually the sun rose. Michael and Alex spent hour trying to show Jonas how to make an omelette that they insisted was different from others until Jonas inevitably lit it on fire and they had to settle for something a lot less direct.

"Alright, so you guys said that we know the cult name, the presumable populace of who's in the cult, and one member's name," Jonas listed each detail on his fingers, "But all we know about their intentions is that they want you guys out of here and with them?"

"Spot on, doughy."

"What's the game plan then? Just google the cult and hope for the best? Go door to door and ask if anyone else has seen or talked to any?"

Alex nodded, "You two can go and ask around, I'm staying here and using the blessed world wide web for this."

"What? No, we're not leaving you alone, Alex."

"I'm a werewolf, Jonas," Alex got up from the couch and picked up her school bag, "I'm also easily 152 years older than you, so I believe I have more knowledge on this stuff than you do."

"Okay, but whoever those guys are really want both of you. I don't think we should split up at all," Jonas snatched Alex's laptop as she pulled it out of the bag.

"Yeah, okay. Then we look the cult up first and then we all go door to door like Mormons and ask our neighbors if they've heard about the 'goodwill of clarity and his followers, the skin walkers'."

"I don't think clarity is someone they follow, Alex," Michael said from behind a small stack a books he'd compiled while the others bickered.

"I know, Michael, I was being facetious."

"Big words for a girl who skipped her lit test last week."

"Uh, guys?" Jonas tried to butt in.

"Yeah, Jonas?"

"Can we maybe get to research instead of bickering like we're all five?"

"Sure, can you give me my laptop back or are you going to cross reference everything yourself?"

Jonas handed Alex her laptop and pulled his phone out. A few minutes passed of Alex's keyboard clacking and Michael turning pages before Jonas sighed.

"Okay, I have no idea what I'm supposed to look up. Creed of Clarity is just coming up with some kinda DnD stuff and Nickleback videos."

Michael sprung to life from being lazily strewn across the other sofa, "Dude. Play the Nickleback videos."

"What?"

Michael made a move to grab Jonas' phone. Jonas only moved out of the way at the last minute and held his phone farther away while Alex carried her laptop as she moved to the dining table as if this was the most normal occurrence.

"C'mon, play the Nickleback videos, Jonas!"

"Michael, you don't even like Nickleback!"

"It's called ironic humor, Jonas, and I refuse to being ignored on the matter!" Michael was now trying to clamber over Jonas to grab the phone.

Jonas stretched his arm out as much as he could before the phone slipped from his hand and hit the tile floor hard. Michael and Jonas froze and Alex snickered from across the room. Michael hurriedly moved off of Jonas and around the couch to pick the phone up. The screen was shattered and the phone wasn't turning on.

"Oh my god, Jonas I am so sorry, dude. I'll totally pay-" The phone was ripped from his hand and Jonas grabbed Michael's keys off of the table.

"Alex, c'mon. We're going fix my phone and ask for information Mormon style. Have fun hitting the books, Michael, I'm sure you'll love it. We'll be back in like, two to three hours," Jonas followed Alex out of the door.

In one hour and a half they get a call from David, "Alex?"

"David?"

"Oh, thank god you picked up. I tried calling Jonas but he wasn't answering."

Alex put the phone on speaker, "Jonas' phone broke, is everything okay?"

"I'm at the hospital with Michael."

"What! What happened?"

"Alex, calm down. It's mostly just a few minor cuts and bruises, along with a nasty black eye, but he's got this bite on his shoulder," Despite David's mostly calm state Jonas could hear his father's voice waver, even just a little.

"Doctors said it looked like a ghoul or a wendigo or something, they weren't incredibly sure yet. But anyways, if you're not too busy, both of you should come by before going home. Michael might be stuck here for a while because of that bite."

"Of course, David, we'll get there as soon as possible."

"Thanks, Alex," There was a sigh of relief before he hung up.

"You heard the man, Jonas. We're headed to the hospital."

Once they got to the hospital Alex made a move to get out before Jonas stopped her, grabbing her arm.

"Alex. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm…I'm fine, Jonas," She tried to get out again but Jonas tightened his grip.

"Are you sure? You were picking your nails since my dad called, do you wanna just take a break before going up there?"

"Jonas, I feel a lot better when I see Michael, okay? I'm fine though, thanks for asking bro," She lightly punched his shoulder and he smiled, "It's what family's for, Alex."

The got out the truck, the only stopping them from seeing Michael was a receptionist who wasn't letting them go past the check in desk.

"I'm his sister! At least tell me his room number and let me go!"

"I'm sorry but no one but kin is allowed in his room right now. He's not awake so he cannot confirm that you're his sister, ma'am."

Alex groaned and stormed over to one of the chairs. Jonas stepped up to the desk and smiled apologetically.

"Um, my dad is David James? He's already in the room with my brother, you could ask him to confirm that we're his kids and Michael's siblings," The lady huffed, she certainly wasn't very amused with still having to deal with Jonas and Alex.

"You can go back there if you'd like. You said is your father yes?"

"Yes, but he is also Alex's dad. Just like he's Michael's. Which you should know since my dad's back there with him. So Alex can come with me, right?," Jonas was not taking this lightly.

"I'm sorry but the girl cannot go back there until we have or confirm her identity," The receptionist was awfully casual with declining Alex's entry.

"Do you have a problem with my sister?"

"No, but was bitten by an unknown assailant and it's in the hospital's best interests to prevent further damage to him."

"No offense, lady, but I do hope you know if you're ruling Alex out to be the assailant because she's a werewolf then you better be kicking Michael out of his own room because," Jonas paused and leaned over the desk as if he was being secretive, "Michael Fredrick Torres is a werewolf."

The lady leaned forward, "Sir, if you're going to sit here making a scene, I'll have security throw both of you out."

"And if you do that then I'll call the cops for….something. There's totally gotta be something illegal about this."

Jonas was tugged away from his staring contest with the receptionist by Alex, "Jonas. David's coming out here to get us."

"What?"

"I texted him while you and this lady had your little stand off," Alex looked around Jonas to look at the receptionist, "You're totally getting fired or suspended or something for this, lady."

"Alex? Jonas?" David turned the corner and smiled when he spotted them, "There you two are. This place has like three waiting rooms I swear to god."

He turned to the receptionist who smiled, "Hello again, . Are these your kids?"

"Yes, they are. They'll be going back up to Michael's room with me unless there's something you'd like to say, ma'am."

"I can't think of anything, sir. Have a good day."

The walk to Michael's room consisted mostly of Alex asking about her brother's condition, "Was there any silver? Like at all? Bullets, blades, teeth?"

"Teeth?" Jonas looked to his sister quizzically.

"Crowns can sometimes be made of silver also false teeth. That's a general fact but some monsters or witches rather replace lost teeth with certain metals or minerals. Something to do with their magic usually," She shrugged, "Not really of any use to non-magic using monsters such as werewolves, but silver teeth can do as much damage as a silver bullet."

Jonas looked to his father, David just nodded, "Definitely no bullets, there might've been a knife or dagger but it wasn't silver. As for teeth? We'll know for sure once the doctor comes back with the results of tests."

When they walked into Michael's room, he was awake, "Alex! Jonas! David!"

"Michael, calm down. Quit shouting," David leaned against the wall as Jonas and Alex sat in the chairs.

"Yeah, okay, whatever. Guys, you're totally never gonna guess what happened."

Alex sighed, "Was it that skin walker?"

"It was totally-Alright, maybe you will guess. But okay he was totally waiting for a chance to get one of us alone, Alex."

"Wait. A skin walker?" David interrupted.

"Yeah, that Henry Griffin guy was a skin walker. Anyways, so I was trying to look up stuff about that stupid cult he's part of and like any good thriller movie I heard the back door creak open and I went to check on it. He quite literally got the jump on me, hiding somewhere behind me when I went to close the door and he tackled me. He was pretty light, probably something to do with being a skin walker, so I just threw him off no problem. By the way, David, we might've broke a few picture frames. But back to the story, he was kind of crumpled up on the floor o I made a move towards him when I guess another jumped onto my back?"

"There's _another_ one?"

"Well, Griffin is part of a cult, Jonas," Alex nudged her step brother.

"Guys, c'mon, pay attention. The second one bit me and my whole right arm went totally limp, I couldn't feel anything past the bite, which mind you hurt like a motherfucker. But around then is when the neighbors showed up. Maggie and Anna, I think? Yeah it was totally them because Maggie did some witch thing that knocked the second skin walker off of me. Maggie sorta had some weird like witch duel with Griffin for a while, as Anna tried to tend to the bite on my shoulder. I guess Maggie won or something because neither Griffin or his friend were arrested but Maggie and Anna are definitely the ones who reported the attack and called an ambulance for me. We totally gotta like bake them a cake or something as thanks."

David chuckled, "Don't worry about it, Michael. We'll do something for them."

"I see you're awake, ," The doctor walked in holding the clipboard with the results from the bite, "I'm afraid you'll be stuck here for a few weeks. The bite in your shoulder ruptured some muscles and there was definitely some silver poisoning. Your neighbor, the one who tended to the bite before the ambulance arrived, she had told us that the bite was probably another skin walker like the first one who attacked, but the tests identified the bite as a wendigo. Which means we'll have to take extra precautions to prevent infection and necrosis."

Michael groaned, "How many pills do I have to take now?"

"Only five in total. Granted it is three more than your original prescription, but if they work like we hope, you can be leave early."

Jonas stood up, "What do you mean _if_ they work?"

"Most of the pills are medication we prescribe humans for wendigo bites. We're not entirely sure if they'll work 100% on Michael since he's a werewolf, but don't worry. Even if they don't work as well as we hope, they shouldn't cause any problems," The doctor handed the prescription papers to David, "Well, that is all I came to tell you. If all goes well, Michael should be out in month's time, tops."

The doctor walked out of the room, David was reading the papers he was given. Alex got up from her seat to move closer to Michael.

"If whoever bit you was a wendigo, then that means the cult isn't just skin walkers."

"Yup."

"If it's not just skin walkers, then whatever they want us for could be even worse possibilities. Especially with wendigoes."

"Yup."

"David? I think me and Michael should move out," Alex's voice faltered.

"Excuse me?"

"Whatever that cult wants us for, they've already proved they'll attack us at home. If Maggie and Anna hadn't showed up, who knows if Michael would even be here. I don't…David we don't know what else they'll do trying to get us."

"Alex has a point. If we move out then that'll prevent a lot of collateral damage that they might do otherwise."

David looked heartbroken, "Well. If that's what you two want, I certainly can't protect either of you. At the very least let me help you two find some place to stay."

"Wait, if they're leaving then so am I."

"Jonas, you can't be serious."

"I am serious. I'm a witch, I have my mom's blood. If I just start practicing I can help."

David looked to Alex when Jonas exclaimed he was a witch, "How does he know that, Alexandra?"

"Look he may have made a joke about it and I'm not the best liar 90% of the time."

"Absolutely not, Jonas. You're not leaving and you're certainly not practicing witchcraft. It got your mother killed, Jonas. I won't have the same happen to you."

"I'm twenty years old, Dad. I am, I will, and you can't stop me," Jonas took a deep breath, "Please just let me do this."


	4. Oh Deer

It took a week of arguing with David to convince him to not only let Jonas leave, but to let him practice magic, and he still wasn't happy with the set up. Jonas was free to leave and practice magic, as long as he had a proper teacher, and one of his werewolf siblings was around, "just in case." The "proper teacher," happened to be Maggie Adler next door, the witch who literally had saved Michael's life. Even after finally planning Jonas' magic studies, it was another week of very complicated planning and discussion with Michael still in the hospital, mostly about what relics and heirlooms they absolutely had to bring out of the den.

That week, added to another week and a half, was spent finding somewhere far enough to keep David out of the way, yet close enough so it wasn't an excruciatingly long drive, with enough room for two werewolves, a human, and relatively close enough to any designated hunting grounds for Alex and Michael. Finally, after two weeks of just waiting, Michael was discharged from the hospital.

"Are you sure you want to leave so soon after Michael was admitted leave from the hospital?" David was standing in the doorway to Alex's room, running his hands through his hair at constant.

"David, we'll be fine."

Michael spoke up from his seat on Alex's bed, "Yeah, don't worry about it. Jonas already agreed to driving me to my follow-up appointments, and Alex said she'll help monitor my medication intake and all that jazz."

"Yes, I know. I'm just...worried, especially since you're taking Jonas with you, and he's been practicing magic."

"Dad, I'll be fine. You'll see me at least once a week while I'm taking lessons with . We'll all be fine. I promise," Jonas lifted a few boxes, and began carrying them out of the room.

A month into living in their new apartment, everything was going surprisingly well. Michael had four jobs as a bartender, two bus boy jobs, and walking dogs. Alex worked at a music store twenty minutes away, and Jonas was still trying to find one job as anything but a barista.

"Jonas, just apply for the barista position."

" _No._ I was a barista before we left, and it's only going to be worse here. I refuse to relive that nightmare."

" _Jonas_ ," Alex growled. Jonas needed a job. He wasn't putting anything towards rent, since what money he had left was going towards things like food or gas.

"Alex, it's fine. We're doing fine right now. I'll find a job, okay? And it won't be a fucking barista."

She really didn't have the time to keep arguing, so she rushed out the door. Once she got to the music shop, she noticed a faun tuning a guitar in front of the shop. Her boss really didn't like people loitering out front. Then again, her boss didn't like much of anything. Skeletons always had bones to pick with people and things.

She approached the faun, "Hey, you can't play out here."

"Actually, I asked the manager. He said I could as long as I brought in business," the faun had a goofy smile, "Can't be too hard, if music doesn't do that, I can just crack jokes. I mean, it's a music shop called "The Trom- _Bone,_ " and it's owned by a skeleton."

Alex sighed, apparently she'd have a new co-worker for the day, "Okay, well careful with those jokes. might stop letting you hang out out here if he catches wind."

The faun laughed, set his guitar down, and reached out a hand, "I'm Ren, by the way."

"Alex," they shook hands, and neither of them let go when they stopped.

When she noticed, Alex was quick to let go, "I gotta get inside, I...really can't get fired here. I'll talk to you later, I guess."

"Huh? Yeah, okay. I'll just be out here all day."

Turns out he wasn't kidding because he was out still there when Alex was leaving. In fact, he was laying out across a bench.

At first Alex thought he was asleep, but after approaching him she realized he just had his eyes closed. Maybe he was trying to sleep, "Uh, Ren?"

"Yeah, whatcha need?" He opened one eye, and was sporting another goofy smile.

"Are you sleeping on the bench?"

"Well, we're talking.. so obviously not. But that was my plan, yes."

He was awfully casual about sleeping on the streets, "Ren, do you have a home?"

"Nope. Haven't had a steady place in about a year and a half. Why?" He was awfully open about it also.

Alex stopped for a minute. She could offer him a place to stay the night at least, but without consulting Michael and Jonas, that probably wasn't smart. It was also out of the question entirely if Ren stayed longer than a night or two and didn't pitch in around the house.

"You can probably stay with me and my brothers for the night," _Probably,_ probably didn't sound very promising, "Well, you _can_ stay the night. But if you stay for anything longer than a few days, you have to start pulling your weight. Got it?"

Ren looked like he was just told he won the lottery, "Really?"

"Yes, but if you turn out to be some crazy serial killer, you can not kill me first. I only fit one of the two criteria for the first killed. Michael fits both, so go after him first," Ren looked like he was trying really hard not to laugh at Alex, "You can laugh, Ren. I wasn't being serious, mostly. I was serious about not killing me first though."

"I'm not a serial killer, scout's honor," Ren picked up his guitar case, "So, uh, lead the way."

Alex began walking, "Alright, but first we gotta stop and grab something for dinner, because Jonas can't cook for shit."

"Oh? So how many brothers do you live with?" Ren was following close behind, "What kind of wolf are you guys linked to?"

"Just two, Michael and I are technically hybrids. Our dad was a hybrid and a lone wolf, and then my mom came in to the mix who was also a hybrid? And it's just a lot of breeds and subspecies, okay? So don't ask, unless you're prepared for a couple of centuries worth of science and cross breeding. Anyways, Jonas is our step brother. He's just a human witch."

"Whoa, how many breeds do you think you've got flowin' through you?"

Alex was about to enter a small Italian diner when she got a call, "Hey, Jonas, what's up?"

"Alex, you're never gonna guess what I just did!"

"Jonas, I swear to god if I find out you set off the fire alarm _again_ trying to cook, I'll apply to that barista job for you."

"No, no, no! I actually cooked edible food! Oh my god! It's just some spaghetti recipe I found online, but it's fucking delicious."

Alex sighed, "That's awesome. Now I don't have to spend $12 a day on your dinner. How much did you make?"

She signaled for Ren to follow her as she began walking again.

"I dunno. Enough for us? Definitely not enough for leftovers for Michael."

Alex looked behind her at Ren, he shrugged, "Alright, well I'll be back in like a few minutes. We just passed that hole-in-the-wall Italian place you like."

"Wait, _we?_ "

"Yeah, I'm bringing over a friend to stay for a few nights. Bye Jonas," She hung up, and sucked in a big breath after finishing the call in one breath, "Sorry, Jonas didn't manage to cook enough for you, Ren."

"Ah, it's fine. I'm a vegetarian anyways," He paused for a second, "I also think I'd rather make my own food, rather than let your brother burn your place to the ground."

When they got to Alex's apartment, Jonas was sitting on a bar stool positioned next to the island, looking like an angry parent, "Alex. Who's your friend?"

"This is Ren. He's...I think he's my co-worker now?" Alex looked to Ren for confirmation. He nodded.

"You _thought_ he was a co-worker? You didn't even know if he was or not? You've never mentioned him ever. Where did he come from?"

"Technically, I hail from England, but Alex knows me as the guy from in front of her work, who plays guitar and sleeps on benches."

"What he said."

"Alex," Jonas buried his face in his palms, "If this guy turns out to be a murderer, I'm locking him in your room so he kills you first."

"Ha! I already made a deal with him so I can't be the first blood!"

Jonas and Alex surprisingly got over the bump quickly, and both began interrogating information out of Ren by playing their own version of twenty questions. Jonas began tuning Alex and Ren out when they got into monster questions.

"Alright, so what deer species are you linked to?"

"I'm not answering that until you answer my question from earlier, Alex."

"Four. Indian, Arabian, and Eurasian from my dad. Mexican and Eurasian from my mom."

"That's...a lot. How did your mom get Mexican and Eurasian?" He picked at some berries left in his bowl, "I'm pure fallow by the way."

"Conquistadors. Alright, how'd you get here from England?"

Jonas perked up at the new question, "Yeah, you don't have any shred of an accent left."

"I was a noble, I was kidnapped by pirates for ransom and my parents didn't have money for the ransom. I got in good with the captain, so I sailed around with them for a while. Eventually I got bored and wanted to go home. The captain was pissed off but not enough to kill me. They ditched me in New Orleans and I've kind of just been wandering since then."

"Holy fuck, you were a pirate?!"

"Yeah, for a few years. How about this question, where's your pack? Don't most werewolves have packs? Like, I get that there's lone wolves, but usually if there's family, there's a pack."

"Oh, um, my biological dad died, and he was our alpha. Michael isn't old enough to be _the_ alpha of the pack, and our dad left a big legacy so know one else wanted to take his place. We had this kind of unspoken deal to reform after Michael became of age but...I have the feeling that won't be happening."

Jonas spoke up, "Um, so you were a pirate. Met any famous ones?"

"Eh, not really. Most of them had retired or died already. I was only kidnapped in 1799, so I mean," Ren gave a a vague hand wave.

The three of them continued goofing off and asking questions for hours until they heard the front door open after some hassle with the doorknob. Alex peeped over the back of the couch as a wolf and Ren and Jonas looked back as well. They were met with a drunk and bruised Michael with a stranger on his back. It was a slender woman with black, rimmed horns and short red hair; she also seemed completely sober.

"I can explain," Michael slurred as he leaned against the wall.

The woman slid off of him and stepped to the side, grinning, "Oh, this should be fun."

"Guys. Meet Clarissa," a hiccup, "She's a succubus."

* * *

Michael was just doing his job, serving some shots to a group of guys, when he heard some guys further away getting progressively louder. He turned around to see a couple of guys with a girl with black horns. He excused himself to the group he was serving, and made his way to the guys and horned girl. One of the guys had a bleached undercut, and the other was wearing a backwards ball cap.

"Excuse me, is there something I could help you two boys with?" Michael tried to keep his voice as level and inconspicuous as possible, but there was definitely an attitude when he said 'boys.'

"Yeah! You could help this young lady realize that we're trying to help her. She's a succubus, and we just want to help her renew some energy, ya know?" Undercut nudged his friend with his elbow, grinning and chuckling.

"Well, maybe she would rather I help you realize she's not interested. I'm certainly leaning more to that one."

The succubus rolled her eyes, and spoke quietly under her breath, "Oh, whatever would I do without some guy coming play white knight for me."

Michael turned to face her, "Well, if you don't actually want my help, I won't. It's just.. I assumed you could use some.. Guess that was my fault. I-"

He was cut off when ball cap threw a punch and hit him directly in the face. The two guys were laughing. Michael let out a loud huff before turning to face them. He raised his shoulders and bared his teeth. He took a step closer to the guys.

"You two don't look nearly as afraid as you should," His voice came out a low growl.

Without anymore warning, Michael grabbed ball cap by his shirt and tossed him like he weighed no more than a feather. Ball cap slammed into the bar, and suddenly everyone in the bar was screaming and running out of any exit they could get to. The succubus just stepped a few tables away and watched. She certainly found it entertaining. Undercut almost made a run for it, but was stopped prematurely by Michael, who's grip on undercut's shoulder was coming close to ripping the fabric and piercing the skin. Michael turned undercut around and lifted him up like he did ball cap, but slammed him into the table next to them.

"You thought it was fucking hilarious harassing a succubus? Let's see how funny you think nearly getting killed by a werewolf is," Undercut was crying, and Michael realized really fast that the guy had also pissed his pants.

He tossed undercut off of the table with less force than he did with ball cap. Michael then looked towards the succubus who had taken a seat at a table, and watched the fight.

"You'll probably get arrested for that."

"I wasn't trying to kill them, just rough them up...a lot. Plus, they attacked first. So it was self defense. At most it'll be public disturbance or assault, maybe vandalism? My dad can totally bail me if I get arrested."

The woman laughed, "Oh my god, please tell me you _don't_ live with your parents."

"What? No! I swear I don't I-wait, why does it matter?"

The woman got up and walked towards him. She placed her hand on his chest, "Just because I wouldn't go home with those two guys, doesn't mean I plan on going home alone."

The succubus grinned and Michael could see the dull points of her teeth. She was definitely a lot taller than Michael first thought, but she was still a head shorter than he was. She had dark red shadows around her eyes. Michael took a mental note that the shadows matched her hair color.

"Hey, buddy. You still alive in there?"

"Huh? Oh. Um...yeah," His voice definitely almost cracked on the yeah, and he could feel himself blush.

The girl chuckled, "My name is Clarissa."

"Michael. And like, I promise I totally don't need these to sleep with you, but I would love it if we could get some drinks first. If that's alright with you?"

* * *

Clarissa was lounging across Michael's lap. Michael had passed out maybe twenty minutes prior to finishing the story, so Clarissa had to take over.

Jonas looked confused as hell, "Are there cops looking for Michael?"

"Possibly, it depends on- if the cops were called and who called them."

"Wait, so you're only here because you and Michael were going to have sex?" Alex certainly wasn't amused at the story.

"That was the plan. Obviously, that won't be happening right now because he's asleep. But if he's still open to the option when he wakes up, I'm game. If not, I'll leave and you guys won't have to deal with me, alright?"

Jonas stood up, and paced around the living room, "Michael's definitely fired from that job as well- meaning we're not making as much cash as we were, and we have another person staying here, which is fantastic! Oh, and we also never solved that whole skin walker ordeal. So who _knows_ when that's going to come bite us in the ass!"

"Jonas, c'mon, just get some water and breathe. It's fine, we can get through this. We're family remember? And if that means we have to extend that to others, then so be it. We'll be okay, alright?"

Jonas sat down at the island after grabbing a water bottle. He rested his face in his hands, "We're so screwed."


	5. Who Needs A Job Anyways?

When Alex woke up, she stepped on Ren and woke him up.

"Ah! Fuck! How heavy are you, Alex? Oh my god," Ren rolled over and Alex thought maybe he was crying.

"I'm sorry, Ren. I...I forgot you were on the floor. But also I totally don't weigh enough, nor did I step hard enough, for you to be that _hurt!_ "

Ren just moaned in response and rolled around dramatically. Alex rolled her eyes and stepped over him. She ran into Jonas in the kitchen as he was making his way out the apartment.

"Woah, what's got you in a rush, pillsbury?" Alex blocked his way out of the kitchen.

"Magic lessons with Maggie in like 20 minutes. I'm going to be late, so move."

"No, because one of us has to take care of Michael and guess who's doing it?"

"Not me because I have _magic lessons_ , Alex."

"Nope! Because _I'm_ the one with a job, Jonas. Should've taken that barista opening," Alex was grinning smugly.

"Why can't we just leave him with Clarissa? Like, at least until my lesson is over."

Alex moved past him and began making a cup of coffee, " _Because, Jonas._ She's a strange succubus and I don't trust her. I'm not leaving the last of my pack with her."

Ren lumbered in and sat at the bar, "Uh, speaking of Clarissa...wasn't she sleeping on the couch?"

"Yeah. Until you two idiots went to bed, she got up and moved to Michael's room once you guys were asleep," Jonas said matter-of-factly.

"Okay, and how do you know this, dough boy?"

"You've already used that one, Alex. And I was up late practicing my latin, why else would I know?"

Ren tugged on Alex's sleeve, "Hey can you check the fridge for some more of those berries from last night? Oh and maybe process of elimination considering, I dunno, Clarissa's _not_ on the couch anymore?"

"And you just let her go into Michael's room? Why?" Alex tossed Ren the container of berries.

Jonas crossed his arms across his chest and let out a huff, "Um, because I'm _not_ a judgmental asshole? Seriously, Alex, what's your problem?"

"He's got a point, Alex," Ren was almost inhaling the berries, "I mean, you let me come over. Why's Mike doing the same thing as you a big deal?"

"You're being kind of hypocritical...in short."

"I'm being reasonable. Considering how you have somehow managed to live the world's most sheltered life. It's not that he brought a stranger home, it's that she's a succubus."

The room was silent, excluding Ren munching on the berries. Jonas made some vague hand gestures and facial expressions.

"Okay. I'm...a human...so I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, both of you, but that sounds...a little racist."

"She's a demon. I don't know if you know this but demons tend to work in teams or groups, kind of like packs for lack of better term. And demons work with creepy cults for their profits, and also we happen to have a cult hunting us. Basically demon groups are like the mobs or mafia, and I don't want to risk Clarissa, killing you or killing me and Michael or kidnapping me or Michael or some weird ass combination of the above. Don't you agree?"

"I agree that you watch way too many mob movies."

Alex groaned and Michael walked in the kitchen. He was wearing dark shades and a hoodie with the hood up.

Alex stopped arguing immediately, "Regretting all those drinks last night?"

Michael nodded, Jonas pointed at the hood, "What's with the jacket?"

Michael waved his finger around and vaguely gestured to the hood, "Pressure on my head, helps a lot."

"Okay."

"I'm only here because I needed some alka seltzer and water, so..."

Jonas handed him a bottled water and Alex gave him two tablets, Michael nodded and started to walk away before stopping himself.

"By the way, stop fucking shouting," He walked back to his room.

The three stood in silence before Ren spoke up as he threw away the berry container, "The hoodie was totally hiding hickies."

"Ren, shut up _._ "

"Oh shit! I have to leave like right now, I'm already late! Maggie's gonna kill me!" Jonas sprinted out of the apartment, much to the dismay of Alex.

"So, are we going to work today or...? 'Cause I have the sneaking suspicion that you don't want to leave the house unattended."

"It's not unattended, if there's going to be people here, deer boy," Clarissa spoke up from her place on the couch.

"Look, I'm pretty sure we all know that you know that Alex doesn't trust you, so that is a debatable statement, Clarissa," Ren stretched his arms above his head, "Especially with Michael looking like he's a zombie."

Alex was quick to defend her brother, "He doesn't look that bad, the apartment's fine with him."

"Alex. Did you see that man? He looks like he should be reaching out of a grave in some cheesy horror film," And Ren was quick to defend his statement.

"He's got a point, Alex."

"If you're going to involve yourself in this conversation, you could at least look at us, Clarissa."

"Um, no. For one, you involved me when you decided I need a babysitter and secondly I'm busy."

"You're watching a Sharknado marathon! That's like the opposite of busy!"

"As if your conversation is a better use of my time."

"Excuse both of you, the Sharknado series is amazing and is the best use of time," Both of the girls looked to Ren, "What?"

"Ren, stop talking."

"It's a good series!"

Alex sighed and grabbed a pen and paper, "Nevermind. Ren, you go to work. Here's my number, I'll call and tell him, I can't make it in today.

"Aye, aye, captain!" After a mock salute, Ren snatched the paper and went back to Alex's room.

"Now, you." Alex pointed to Clarissa with the pen.

"What about me?"

Alex leaned against the back of the couch, "When are you leaving and what are you doing until then?"

"I don't know and your brother."

"That's not...I didn't need that image in my head, thanks."

"You guys don't have a lot of plants in here."

"That could not be further away from what I asked," Alex moved around and sat on the couch.

"We should go buy some plants, you guys have a balcony and way too much empty space in here," Clarissa stood up from the couch and walked around the room.

"Oh my god, could you at least answer my questions before judging us about the lack of living green things in here?"

"I did. We should go buy some plants, preferably something that's poisonous to Ren, that way he can't eat them."

Alex was starting to regret talking to Clarissa, "I'm so not going plant shopping with you."

"Fine then. I'll go on my own, it'll take a few trips probably, but I do have a key."

"Why do you have a key to the apartment," Alex already knew the answer.

"Michael," Clarissa was headed back towards Michael's room, she subsequently ran into Ren on his way out of Alex's room.

He walked up to Alex, "Hey, can I borrow you're key if Clarissa has Michael's? Or do you think someone will let me in?"

Sighing, Alex got up and grabbed her keys out of her bag, "Here. But you have to give them back later, got it?"

"Totally, thanks!" He dashed out the door, much like Jonas had.

Alex turned the TV off and waited by the door. Clarissa jumped when she turned around and Alex was at the door.

She crossed her arms, "You don't even trust me with the key or something?"

"No, but it's Michael's key, so it's not like I can take it. But aside from that, do you not want help carrying god knows how many plants?"

"I was just going to get some nice guy to do it for me, but you work just as well," Clarissa had a wicked grin.

It took them nearly an hour to simply find a store that held plants up to Clarissa's standard. Once they were in the store, it took all but seconds for a guy who was working there to spot them and ask if he could help.

Alex had zoned out briefly before Clarissa was snapping in her face, "What?"

"If you had taken any longer to pay attention, I'd've slapped you. Anyways, your other brother, Jonas, he's a witch right? We could get him some plants for spells or potions."

"Yeah, but he's only been practicing for like a month though. Can he even use plants for anything like that yet?" Alex was trailing behind Clarissa as they walked around the large greenhouse.

"In theory. I'm sure if he told his mentor he had access to some of them, they could start teaching him."

Alex stopped at a tall plant with dark green leaves and dark purple flowers, "Woah, this looks cool. What is it?"

She began to reach out to the plant when Clarissa caught her by the wrist, "Don't touch that."

"And why not?"

"It's wolfsbane, it just so happens that can be extremely fatal to werewolves. So _don't touch it_."

"Oh."

In the end, Clarissa still had to charm a guy into helping them carrying the plants to the apartment.

"So, you do know that odds are, these plants will die once you leave, right?"

Clarissa didn't turn around to face Alex, but she could feel the succubus smiling, "Guess I'll have to stick around a little longer then."

"Um, no. Not up for debate, you can totally stay a few more days, I guess. But you are so not staying permanently."

"Well," she stopped tending to the plant and turned around, "Why don't we ask Michael what he thinks?"

"Because he's asleep?"

"No I'm not and what's with all these plants? Also what's the thing wanna ask me about, Clarissa?" Michael practically loomed over Alex.

"Me and Alex can't agree on whether or not I should stay. Permanently."

"Oh! Oh, uh...," Michael started twiddling his thumbs, "That's...that's moving kinda fast. I mean, I totally have no problem with it, I just...we only met last night and I...um..."

Alex groaned, "Nevermind. Forget I argued, we'll talk about it again like tomorrow or something. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm leaving. To my room. Bye."

Within the hour, Jonas came back, "Why does the apartment look like Tarzan's island?"

"Clarissa," Alex popped out of her room, "And it's not that much. I'd say more like the stage for a play rendition of Tarzan."

"Uh."

"Oh, also, try and talk some sense into Michael. Clarissa's wanting to stay for like ever and really all she needs is Mike to agree and you'll never guess what he did."

"Agreed?"

"Yeah, and like hell he'll listen to me about it."

Jonas did not look impressed, "That's because you don't like succubi. And I don't really have anything against her staying either, I told you I saw her last night when I was practicing my Latin. She helped a lot, it's like her first language out of like ten!"

"Yeah, but she kind of just met us last night? There's gotta be rules about this stuff, right?"

"I mean, it's totally weird, yeah. But aren't succubi kinda weird like that? They like can imprint on people or something?"

"Okay, yeah, fair point. Werewolves do the same thing but like way later and way different. Wait, how do you even know about that?"

He gave a big smile, "I asked Anna about fauns and succubi since we're kinda living with them. So instead of magic, today was more like a lesson about society and other monsters."

"You still really like all this magic and monsters crap. That certainly hasn't changed since we met."

"Well, duh. It's like an entire world that's just been living right under my nose, it's fucking crazy."

"I bet. So anyways, if you could-"

"I'm not telling Michael to tell Clarissa she can't stay."

Alex huffed "Fine. But you still need a job, and you're under house arrest until you apply for at least one job."

"You literally can't do that."

Jonas was pulled into Alex's room, "I literally can. I'm easily twice as strong as you."

"Why don't you harass Clarissa bout getting a job, that'll keep her out of the house every now and then."

"You're right," Alex opened her door back, "You're free to go, . For now."

"Ha ha, Alex. I'll go talk to Clarissa about getting a job, since you released me early."

It took a while for Jonas to find Clarissa, but ultimately she was in Michael's room. That probably should've been the first place he checked. None the less when he entered, he wasn't sure if he was in Michael's room or a terrarium. The room was absolutely full of plants to the point that he had to budge a few around to walk in. Clarissa was sitting on Michael's bed reading a book that looked a few centuries old, at least, and Michael was stretched out across the bed as a wolf, with his head in Clarissa's lap. Jonas had to stifle a laugh when he saw Michael's tail wagging.

Jonas made his presence known, "Okay, you two need to chill. I have a flawless dental history and I don't need cavities now ruining it."

Both Michael and Clarissa looked up at him, Michael actually looked a little upset with the interruption.

"Hey, Jonas. Any specific reason you decided to walk in without knocking?"

"Well, I didn't think I needed to knock, but anyways Alex has been harassing me about getting a job. And since Clarissa will be staying, Alex will probably start harassing you about getting a job too."

"You should always knock, you never know what we could be doing in here," Clarissa put the book down, "But if she must know, since she apparently doesn't already, all succubi have fortunes behind them. I don't need a job."

"Wait, what?" Jonas obviously missed something from Anna's lesson.

"There's no real science or explanation behind it. I think it just has to do with the fact that we're demons, but really who knows."

"Oh my god, are you kidding me? You just have money? Just infinite money?"

"In theory, yes. But like I said, we don't know how or why, so who's to say it's infinite."

"Okay, well, I'll just be going then," Jonas turned around and left the room, "Just materialize money, infinite money. No problem at all. Whatever, at least _Alex can't make me get a job now!_ "

" _I heard that!_ "


	6. Chapter 6: Rewritten

It took, at best, a month for Alex to fully trust Clarissa. Which accordingly to Michael, was a miracle nonetheless. Within the same month, Ren officially moved in and was living with the group as well. Also in that month, Michael's room became Clarissa's room.

The five of them were all gathered in the living room. Michael, Clarissa, and Ren were huddled on the couch while Jonas and Alex stood in front of them.

"We need to set some ground rules," Jonas started before looking to Alex, "Because apparently there's a few things that aren't seen as common sense for all of us."

So maybe they rehearsed the speech a little.

Alex continued, "First off. Clarissa and Michael, if you're going to do this whole open relationship, no strings attached, friends with benefits thing. Do not bring your other dates into the apartment. We really don't need more people just deciding to live here or otherwise causing problems."

"Now Ren, I've talked to you about this plenty of times but I'm going to do it again because now there'll be witnesses," Ren looked startled when Jonas began addressing him, "Do not use the doorways to rub your antlers."

"I told you I don't do that!"

"Yeah, okay, just know that if it happens again I'll be antler-proofing them. You're also not allowed on the balcony or in Clarissa's room because for some reason when you're in those places, the plants miraculously get smaller and look more like someone's been eating them."

"Well, she shouldn't be allowed to grow some of those plants anyways, they're poisonous!"

"None of them will kill you just be being near them, you don't wanna get sick? Don't eat my plants! They for magic anyways, you shouldn't be messing with any of them to begin with," Clarissa butted in.

"Your magic doesn't even need plants? Why do you even have them?"

"They're for Jonas."

"Then why are they in your room?"

"Because he sleeps on the couch, and if we put them in here then you'd just eat them more."

Jonas and Alex looked at each other as Ren and Clarissa continued bickering, this "Family Meeting" plan was not working as well as they hoped.

Despite the failed family meeting and a few rough patches following it, usually about Ren still picking at the plants, the next few months went by rather smoothly.

The worst of the bad days was about two months after the meeting, when a really shady guy walked into The Trom-Bone an hour before closing. He didn't look familiar, but he definitely felt familiar. Alex quickly came to the conclusion that he was a skin walker, which probably meant he was there for her. He made his way to the counter in long strides before he grinned up at her. He was definitely a skin walker if his foggy eyes and jagged teeth were anything to go by.

"Hello, ma'am. I'm here to pick up an order. It's a wooden flute from-"

"Don't worry about clarifying what company made it, we only sell one brand. What's the name on your order, sir?"

"Francis Salter."

"Alright, . I'll get your order from the back," Alex really wanted to dart out the back door, but unlike her brother she had some impulse control.

Ren was laying on some boxes, presumably sleeping. Alex shook him awake and he fell off the boxes.

"Woah, hey, I'm on my break!"

Alex held a finger up to her lip before whispering, "Keep your voice down. There's a skin walker out there."

"Okay, so it's not just succubi you have a thing against, it's skin walkers too?"

"Would you shut up about that? Listen, me and my brothers have kinda been avoiding this but there's some kinda...cult that's after me and Michael and we don't know why but it's made up of skin walkers and wendigos. This guy, some Francis Salter, came in and asked for his order on a wooden flute but you and I both know there hasn't been any orders for any flutes in at least three months."

Ren looked a little lost but he nodded none the less.

"Look, I need you to go out there and look busy, restock something while I talk to him about his order. I don't feel safe out there alone with him."

Ren did a mock salute and grabbed a few of the boxes he was lying on before strutting out of the room. Alex walked out soon after and smiled apologetically to .

"I'm afraid it seems we haven't received your order, sir. There may have been a problem in processing or maybe it was delayed, you can request a refund and resend in your order if you'd like."

"Oh no, it's quite alright. I'll just file a complaint to your manager for discrimination," He had a sinister smile plastered across his face.

"Excuse me, sir?"

"I'm a skin walker, you know. I could hear your conversation back there, I'm not stupid."

"Well then you heard that we haven't gotten any orders in a long time."

He leaned over the counter, his old, crumbling bones creaking as he did so, "Don't forget the part about you and your brother. You'll be better off if you stop running, Alexandra. We have eyes and ears everywhere and you can't run forever."

He left the store with a new air of pride about him. Ren quickly made his way over to Alex, who was frozen in place, "Hey, Alex, are you alright?"

"What if they show up at the apartment, Ren? Michael, he's still got that massive scar from the first time, it's barely even healed, if they show up again…" Alex trailed off.

Ren could see the panic in Alex's face, he pulled her close, "C'mon, we've got like forty minutes until closing time, okay?"

He pulled away to look Alex in the eyes, "You can wait in the back and I'll deal with the store until we can leave, alright? We'll be fine and so will the others, I promise."

Alex had tears welling up in her eyes but she nodded before getting up and shuffling to the back of the store.

The following week consisted of checking and rechecking security measures and Alex quitting and looking for a new job. No one had any run in's with the cult and they assumed they were safe for now. Three months later, there was someone knocking on the door with only Clarissa and Jonas present and awake at 5 am.

"I got it," Jonas vaulted over the back of the couch and answered the door.

What he didn't expect was a short, chubby girl with fangs to be on the other side, "Hi, I really hope I'm not bothering you? It is pretty early after all."

"Wha- No! No, it's fine. Is there something I could help you with?"

"Yes, I was wondering if I could…maybe..." She trailed off as she walked past Jonas, "Um, sure. I guess you can come in, no need to ask, it's fine."

"Clarissa?"

Clarissa turned around and looked at the girl incredulously, "Nona?"

"Oh my god, it is you!" Nona went to walk around the couch but Clarissa met her half way and lifted the shorter girl up in a hug.

"It's been so long! When was the last time we met up?" Nona was set back down on the ground.

"1876 I think? I can't even remember what country that was!"

Jonas cleared his throat, "Not to…uh, ruin the moment but if you don't mind, maybe we should introduce ourselves and you should ask whatever it was you wanted to ask? After that feel free to reconnect, I just…it seemed important."

"Oh! Right, sorry…"

"Jonas."

"Alright, sorry Jonas. I'm Nona by the way, in case you missed Clarissa saying it. I was actually wondering if I could stay the day? The sun's going to come up within the hour and me and the sun don't have a great relationship, ya know?"

"Oh. I don't know if Alex or Michael would really appreciate me just letting someone stay here," Jonas looked up at Clarissa, who in turn was smiling, "Clarissa no."

"C'mon, Jonas. Alex and Michael already brought people over and Ren and I live here now. Nona just wants to stay the day, it really can't hurt."

"Clarissa."

"Jonas."

"Alright, whatever. If either of them ask, it's totally on your ass. I don't need Alex hounding me for another problem, the barista job is bad enough," Jonas started to walk into the kitchen as the girls sat on the couch but he stopped abruptly when he heard mention of a ship.

"Wait, what's this about selling a ship? Why would you sell a ship?"

"Well, being a pirate doesn't exactly lead to riches anymore," Nona said it as casual as possible.

"You were a pirate!?"

"Uh huh. For about…200-ish years."

"200?"

"Late 1600s to late 1800s…ish. It felt like way longer though, it's a lot of hassle when you're a vampire. Add in factors like mutiny and occasional bratty noble ransoms and it really puts worse for wear to the test."

Jonas leaned over the back of the couch, "Dude, how'd you even become a pirate?"

"Oh. Um. I was...kidnapped and turned into a vampire and my new state as a creature of the night was kind of used to blackmail me to stay in the crew," Nona looked uncomfortable, "That's the short version at least."

"Sorry if like…I didn't mean to...I shouldn't have asked at all. I'm sorry, Nona," Jonas scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, "Look if I ask anything else like that and you don't want to talk about it, that's totally fine, alright? Just tell me, it'll be totally chill."

Clarissa snorted and knocked Jonas off the couch, he groaned before getting up slowly, "Thanks, Clarissa."

"Anytime, Jonas."

The three stayed up in the living room, Jonas listening to stories about Nona's life on the seas and the expeditions she'd been doing since then. After she got rid of the pirate ship she started exploring the world.

"As great as traveling the world has been, I really regret selling my ship for it. It would've been leagues easier traveling with my own ship."

A door opened and Alex walked out, dragging a very reluctant Ren behind her. Jonas waved, "Hey guys. We have a guest for the day."

When he looked back to Nona he noticed she was staring at Ren, "Hey Nona? You alright?"

She ignored Jonas in favor of speaking directly to, who Jonas assumed was Ren, "Reginald?"

Next was a glass breaking on the floor, Jonas leapt up, "Hey! Ren, what the hell, man?!"

Ren turned around slowly, "Oh. Um. Hi, Nona."

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Jonas was relieved to find that Nona sounded more surprised than mad like he was expecting.

It was short lived however because Ren responded with the grace of a bull.

"Well, you kinda ditched me in New Orleans. Couldn't really hitch a safe ride back home when everyone watched me walk off a notorious pirate ship."

"Walk off? You jumped, don't blame me for being supposedly stuck here for 200 years, Reginald."

"Ren. Please don't call me Reginald," Ren finally crouched over and started picking up the broken glass.

Jonas and Alex looked at each other, both confused as ever. They both looked to Clarissa, she didn't notice them, she was completely focused on Nona and Ren.

"Since when did you start going by Ren? What happened to the whole 'Reginald means something to me' lecture that you gave me only like three times year?"

"Well, when you hear a lot of "aren't you that missing noble boy' followed by bar fights and close calls toward more trips with more pirates it starts to get exhausting. It's still technically my name, I just…don't go by that anymore," Ren dumped the glass in his hands into the trash, turning his full attention to Nona, " 'Sides, the name Reginald brings up more questions now than I would mind to answer."

Nona scoffed, "So what happened to going home? After all that whining to go home and go back to your parents and your sisters and your brother did you even try? Did you even actually want to go home or were you just fucking bored of being a pirate? Honestly you're such a brat I wouldn't even be surprised!"

Jonas looked to Alex and nodded towards Clarissa and Michael's bedroom. Alex nodded back and left briefly before coming back with Michael. Michael made a move to step in between Nona and Ren but was stopped by Jonas.

"Let them get it out, if it gets any worse, then we can step in. But I don't want any of this negative crap building up," Jonas said softly to Michael.

"I did try and get back home! I wrote letters asking for a ship, a person, even just a letter saying they couldn't do that! You know what I got back? Nothing! Not a single fucking letter, note anyone sent, not a ship, nothing! Ten years after I gave up I find out my mom died and my dad married some pure blooded human who wanted me and my siblings dead!"

There was definitely a lot more to Ren than Jonas would have ever thought to give credit for.

"Joshua was fucking poisoned and died, Allie "accidentally" fell off the balcony of her room, Eliza barely survived a blatant assassination attempt that killed my dad. I wasn't allowed back home, else I would've been killed on the spot!"

Ren was slowly moving closer to Nona, Michael and Clarissa were both getting antsy, waiting for something to happen.

"My entire family was murdered in cold blood! But hell at least they didn't sell me to pirates, am I right? At least I wasn't forced to be a vampire and become some disgusting pirate's fucking toy for what would've been all of eternity! I mean, I'll admit my sob story is fucking terrible compared to yours, you were just 22 and your life was fucking over! Oh, but hey, I was kidnapped by a pirate who really only wanted me so she could rank up in power and wealth and someone to frame for the murder her rapist! You-" Ren was pushed back and landed hard on his back.

"Ren, that is enough!" Michael stood between Nona and Ren, glaring down at Ren.

Nona was gripping Clarissa's hand with all of her strength, both for herself and to keep Clarissa from stepping in. Ren just sat on the floor, staring with both fear and astonishment clear in his face up at Michael. He gasped before stumbling to a stand.

"I didn't...I never meant to...I wasn't trying to...I just..." He gradually began to hyperventilate, Jonas stepped towards him but was quickly shoved away, "I'm sorry."

Ren shoved past Jonas and Alex, dashing out of the apartment and slamming the door shut behind him. Jonas and Alex looked at each other again, Jonas spoke up first, "I'll go after him if you don't want to."

"Thanks, Jonas."

Jonas patted Alex on the shoulder, "Don't mention it."

He rushed out of the apartment, grabbing his jacket on the way out. Nona let go of Clarissa, only for Michael to grab her.

"Oh no you don't. You're literally going to butcher the boy. Jonas has got this, okay, Lis'?"

Alex could honestly say she had never seen, nor did she want to see, Clarissa so angry. Michael was obviously pre-occupied with keeping Clarissa from murdering Ren because he certainly wasn't paying any attention to Nona beside him, who was just staring down at the floor in front of her. Alex walked over to the others and grabbed Nona's hand, Nona's immediate instinct was to dig her nails into Alex's hand and hold on as tight as she could. Alex tugged Nona closer and grabbed Nona's other hand as well.

"Are you alright?"

Nona nodded softly.

"Do you want to sit down?" Another nod and Alex pulled Nona over to sit back down on the couch, "Do you want something to drink? Or eat?"

Nona shook her head, Alex hummed in response, "If you need anything just tell me, okay?"

Nona nodded, she wasn't holding onto Alex's hands as tightly now, "Thank you...Alex."

"Don't worry about it, Nona."


End file.
